No matter how thoroughly landlords in San Francisco screen tenants, they can still face problems with them later on. While a screening can tell you their history and financial situation, it’s difficult to predict whether you’ll face problems with the tenant during the lease.
It’s already stressful managing and maintaining a rental property in San Francisco. When you add tenants who cause problems to that, it can be very discouraging to keep your rental property.
Fortunately, there are solutions to the most common tenant problems landlords face. By the end of this article, you’ll know how to solve these problems and even how to prevent them from happening.
Late Rent Payments
You’re a landlord, not a debt collector. When your tenant is consistently late making their rent payment each month, you can spend a ton of time chasing them down and contacting them about when they will pay you. It can almost feel like begging at some points.
At first, you may want to evict the tenant since they’re breaching the lease by not paying rent on time. However, this is a costly process and should be avoided if possible.
SOLUTION
There are a couple of ways you can solve problems with late-paying tenants. The first thing you can do to prevent this issue from happening is to make it easy for tenants to pay their rent. With today’s technology, 57% of renters say that online payments are important to them.
You can also talk to your tenant about why their payments are always late. Maybe there is a compromise you can both work out. Whether it’s changing the due date or the method of payment, communication can always help.
Property Damage
There are those tenants who take great care of where they live and those who treat it as a punching bag. Some tenants simply don’t care about the state of the dwelling because they don’t own it, so they leave damage and issues due to neglect.
This can be very expensive for landlords to fix, especially if the damage is extreme.
SOLUTION
When the tenant first signs the lease, ask for a security deposit to cover any damage that may take place during the term. Remind them that it will be refunded if the property is returned in the condition it was received.
Another way to deal with tenants who cause damage is to perform routine property inspections. When tenants know you’re checking in on them periodically, they’ll be likely to take care of the property.
When you do see the damage, you can point it out and allow them to fix it themselves rather than lose part of their security deposit.
Noise Complaints
If you’ve ever had a noisy neighbor, you know how frustrating it can be. There are times where your tenant may be considered a noisy neighbor by people who live near your rental property in San Francisco.
Unless you live near the property, you may be unaware of this issue. The only way you could be aware is if the neighbors contact you directly and ask you to resolve the problem with your tenant.
SOLUTION
Unfortunately, there isn’t much that landlords can do concerning a noisy tenant other than talking to them about the complaints. Maybe they aren’t even aware of the noise they’re causing. Sometimes a quick conversation is all you need to remedy the issue.
To prevent tenants from being noisy neighbors, you can add a clause in the lease about noise violations. For example, you can set quiet hours at night or impose a fee if you receive a noise complaint from a neighbor.
Unnecessary Maintenance Requests
Some landlords have to deal with tenants who constantly make unnecessary maintenance requests. These could include requests to change a lightbulb, clean hard to reach places or other things you aren’t responsible for as a landlord.
There is a clear distinction between the maintenance responsibilities of a tenant and a landlord. A landlord must provide a habitable place to tenants. This means it must be safe and have electricity, heating, and plumbing.
Of course, you’ll have to do necessary maintenance to keep the rental in good shape and running well. This does not include changing lightbulbs, though.
SOLUTION
Make your tenant aware of the maintenance and repairs you will and will not do for them. Talk to them about excessive maintenance requests and draw the line somewhere. Be firm with your statements, and don’t go against your decisions.
Security Deposit Returns
Upon return of the security deposit, some tenants cause problems if the landlord kept some of it to make repairs. They will argue and try to negotiate that they deserve the security deposit back in full.
In some instances, tenants take their landlords to small claims court to get the deposit back.
SOLUTION
There are a number of ways to avoid this kind of problem with your tenant and save the argument. First, you can conduct a move-out inspection of the San Francisco property. Walk through the property with the tenant and identify any damage that will result in a charge.
If repairs were made, keep the receipts and create a list of itemized expenses. Show this to the tenant to justify the amount you kept. This will also be handy documentation if the tenant does decide to go to court.
Communication is Key
Overall, landlords must have impeccable communication skills to solve problems with their tenants. While every landlord wants an ideal tenant who doesn’t cause issues, this is rare in San Francisco.
Be calm and respectful when talking to your tenant and empathize with their situation. However, be firm with your rules and draw the line when needed.
Let Sharevest Property Management Handle All Your Tenant Problems
While you may have had an inkling you could experience problems with tenants when you invested in a San Francisco rental property, you may not have expected it to be so stressful and time-consuming.
Sharevest Property Management can take care of all your tenant problems so you can still enjoy passive income from your investment without the stress and problems.
As the area’s leading property management company, we will screen tenants, answer maintenance requests, and solve any issues that may arise.
Contact us to see how we can help solve your tenant problems today!
